On Tuesday, the Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard reported that Cubans entering the United States are instantly given cash, a Social Security card, food stamps and Medicare benefits through a “Welcome Wagon” operation that even provides housing, transportation and other benefits.

Bedard wrote:

Thousands of Cubans rushing the U.S. border in record numbers are being greeted with a Welcome Wagon operation the provides them with taxpayer-funded benefits including cash, a Social Security card, food stamps, and Medicaid, according to a review of the latest immigration crisis on the border.

During a field trip to the Laredo, Texas crossing point, two experts from the Center for Immigration Studies documented how Cubans are provided with the services free of charge in a storefront operation set up by a Cuban immigrant, who even provides housing and schedules transportation to Miami.

“The door is wide open. Come and get your free stuff,” is how Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, sized it up.

Worse yet, many more are on the way, and will no doubt get all the free goodies, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.

Moreover, [Alejandro] Ruiz asserts that the number of Cubans coming to the United States will not decrease any time soon. By talking to Cubans when they arrive and talking to people over the internet, Ruiz estimates that there are over 30,000 Cubans already in Central and South America headed for the United States: 20,000 in Ecuador, 2,500 in Panama, 3,000-5,000 in Colombia, and 2,000 in Brazil.

Ruiz, she added, founded the Cubanos en Libertad (Cubans in Liberty) group in 2014.

“Ruiz explained that he started the non-profit after he traveled through Laredo for business and became aware of the large number of Cubans coming in through Bridge 1. As a Cuban immigrant himself, who arrived in the United States in 1992, Ruiz explained that he wanted to help others as he was helped decades earlier.”

And it’s all legal, according to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.

“They are given legal status despite lacking visas – the “wet-foot/dry-foot” policy – and receive full access to welfare programs,” she added.

Vaughan, Bedard wrote, said that “it’s organized lawlessness.”

He adds:

“It’s all perfectly legal,” she said. “All they have to prove is that they’re Cuban and don’t have a serious criminal record or prior deportation. The door is wide open, come & get your free stuff,” she added.

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